Finding Love
by Horses R 4 ME
Summary: When Heron's warren is burned down she goes to a different warren. But when that warren is attacked she and her new friends must go somewhere else. And that place happens to be Watership Down. Fiver/OC, Silverweed/OC, Dandelion/OC Many more OC's in story
1. The Beginning

A white doe zipped over the woodland hills, which was filled with acrid smoke that stung her eyes and filled her lungs, causing her to cough uncontrollably. She had black tipped ears and light blue, sparkling eyes. The fire which she was running away from had consumed her warren and most of the rabbits in it. As she left, her older sister Diana yelled after her that she would find her again, she had to see if there were any survivors that could escape with her and Dogwood, her mate.

Tears started to form in the doe's eyes after the flashback. She was afraid that everyone was dead already. Screams of pain and suffering ringed in her ears. Quickly her eyes closed as she shook her head, trying to get rid of the horrible thoughts that were rampaging through her mind.

Suddenly a root shooting out of the ground caught her foot and made the doe tumble down a steep hill, head over heels. She stopped abruptly by hitting a silver-white birch. Tears still streamed out of her eyes as she fell unconscious. As all went black she couldn't help but hear her sister calling her name. _"Heron...Heron…Heron…"_

It was a bright, warm day on Watership Down. All the rabbits were outside of their burrows with the exception of three or four does who were still underground making new beds for their upcoming litters.

Pipkin was training the junior owsla, Dandelion and Hawkbit were fighting over food, Bigwig was sparing with Spartina and Hazel and Primrose were just talking. While the others were hopping about, Fiver on the other hand was lying on his back and was watching the clouds roam in the open, blue sky.

Hazel came over and sat beside him. He stared at the clouds trying to see what his little brother was looking at, then asked: "Hey, Fiver, what are you thinking about?" He said rubbing his brother's head with his paw.

"Hm? Oh nothing." Fiver replied; he went into a sitting position.

"Come on Fiver, we're brothers, I **know** when you're thinking of something." Hazel let out a small laugh.

Still Fiver refused to talk until Hazel irritated him to his limit. "Oh, alright Hazel!" he shouted with his paws over his ears. His voice came down again, "If you must know…I was just thinking…," Fiver paused, shifted his position uncomfortably, then continued, "Almost everyone in the warren has a doe friend except for me."

"Oh, so **that's** what you're thinking about." Fiver blushed under his fur. "Well what about Dandelion? He doesn't have a doe yet either. Poor fellow." Hazel said looking at Dandelion and Hawkbit who were _still _fighting.

"True, but still…." Before he could finish Silverweed came over. He had been silflaying and seeing Hazel laugh and Fiver's cover ears, wanted to see what the commotion was.

"Hey guys." He said standing in front of him. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing." Fiver yelled quickly.

"Does." Hazel said suddenly after Fiver, who just laid his ears beside his head and crouched down. "You see, Fiver feels lonely and wants to have a doe friend." He finished, placing a paw on his little brothers head again.

"Hazel!" Fiver yelled at his brother. He blushed again and hoped that it wasn't showing.

"Ahhhhh." Silverweed said with his ears perked up. While Fiver buried his head in his paws, he just wanted to crawl under a rock and die. "O come on Fiver, don't be embarrassed." He lifted Fiver's head up.

"Easy for you to say, you probably had a bunch of does drooling over you at Cowslip's warren." Fiver said sadly.

"Actually, no. All the rabbit's there just liked my poems." Silverweed replied withdrawing his paw.

Before Fiver could say anything else Hazel told him, "Don't worry Fiver, there's a doe for you out there." All three of them then stared at the sky.


	2. Feather Finds Help

**Hi! Its me! The writer! (no duh) Anyway, I know that some (most) of the names here are strange and or weird, but it all works in my mind if you know what i mean. So please enjoy! And no flame attacks please!!! Im running out of fire extinguishers! (Also, if you don't like my work than why do you even read it????)  
**

**Hecktor: Wow, they must really hate you.**

**Me: Shut up or you'll be deleted!!!!**

**Hecktor: Sorry!!! *huddles in corner shaking***

Birds chirped in the trees as they rustled in the wind. A leaf fell and landed on Heron's still body. Slowly the doe's eyes opened up and all the memories from the fire flooded back.

Quickly Heron bolted up only to have her back right leg throb in pain, and as quickly as she got up she feel down again. Heron yelped and wondered where she was. She knew she was far away from the warren, but nothing else. She also wondered if her sister was okay. Heron knew she had to go somewhere safe, but _where_? She didn't even know where she was.

"Bunny need help?" a voice said. Heron looked around but did not see the owner of the strange voice. "Bunny look up." The voice said again.

Heron looked up to see a male bluebird sitting on a branch staring down at her. "Uh… yes please help me mister…" her voice trailed off.

"Call me Feather Flyer, Feather for short." Feather said puffing his chest out in pride. "So what bunny need help with?"

"Fist off, call me Heron, and I need help walking, knowing where I am and where is the closest safe spot." Heron said trying to get to her feet, but just collapsed in the process.

"Heron is strange name." Feather said with his head cocked to the side slightly.

"Well so is Feather Flyer." Heron replied with a slight smirk.

"Touche." The bluebird replied. "Anyway, I can find Heron help with walking, and me can fly and see where you are and safe spot."

"Really? Thank you so much Feather!" the doe practically yelled.

"Heron no worry 'bout it!" Feather started to fly away. "Feather will be back with help! Heron stay in spot!" with that said he flew away.

Heron laughed. "Well I don't really have much of a choice." She said to herself. The breeze blew gently again and Heron placed her head on her paws and closed her eyes.

It was just about three o'clock when Feather finally found a nice spot for his new friend. It was another warren. As he got closer he saw many rabbits hopping about here and there while some silflayed on the lush green grasses.

As Feather landed on the ground two young bucks almost ran him over play fighting. One was light yellowish orange with light creamy-tan white circles around his eyes, mouth and it was also ran down from his chest to his stomach and his eyes were almost as green as the grass. While the next rabbit was coal black with light grey all over were the others was, except his eyes were deep, chocolate brown.

"Hey! Watch where you two bunnies go!" Feather cried out jumping out of the way just in time.

"Oh sorry!" said the black one. The other didn't speak because he was pinned down by his throat, which made it difficult for him to breathe.

"It's okay just no do it again." The bluebird said. The black one nodded his head.

"Hecktor!" came a tiny croaked voice. The buck looked down.

"O my gosh!" Hecktor yelled and he jumped off his "enemy" who gasped for air. "Sorry Welsh…." He said.

"You Hecktor and Welsh?" Feather said staring at the two rabbits.

"Yes. Yes we are." Said Welsh. "Can we help you?"

"Uh, WE?" interrupted Hecktor who pushed his paw down on top of Welsh's head, who in return had a 'oops' look on his face along with a slight blush.

As the two started a small argument, which included some pushing, Feather couldn't help but smile. He had found not only help for Heron to walk, but maybe also a new home along with her first two friends.


	3. Fivers Time of not so needed 'Help'

**....Im writing a lot... kinda. Different types of stories coming soon!!!! (this is kinda a short chapter). Sry its short. This is a different POV. So... enjoy! No flames please!!!!!!**

Back at Watership Down almost everyone heard about Fiver and his "doe" problem. And all day he was getting advice, sympathy, and a bunch of other things that made him annoyed.

"Hazel, Silverweed, you two _promised _not to tell anyone." Fiver told the two bucks in the honeycomb, a groan followed the end of the sentence.

"We didn't tell anyone!" Silverweed told Fiver after yet another rabbit came and told Fiver what to do.

"Then how did they find out?" Fiver said with a puzzled look on his face then it hit him. Kehaar. He was sitting on a tree branch right above them. He must of heard their conversation and told everyone to help, but he must not of known that Fiver hated the attention he was getting. At least _this _certainattention. "_Kehaar._" Fiver said lowering his head slightly.

"What about him?" Hazel asked.

"He was resting in the tree we were under. He heard our conversation and told everyone." Fiver replied. He then fell onto his back and groaned. "I know he probably meant well, but it's ruining my life."

"Come on Fiver it's not ruining your life." Silverweed said looking down on the young buck.

"Yes it is Silverweed." Fiver said with his eyes closed. "Do you have any idea how it feels to get unwanted attention? How embarrassing it is to get help you don't want." Fiver groaned again and loudly said, "For _everyone _to know what happened. For sympathy you don't need?" his voice became quieter.

Silverweed was quite for a while. During that time other rabbits came in and left. Even Hazel had left due to the results of Dandelion and Hawkbit's fight. Finally he spoke. "Fiver I do know how you feel. I had to go through that for about two months." Silverweed paused and looked away. "Remember Hannah's spell? And how I took it from her and used it myself, and then…" he didn't finish.

Fiver's eyes opened, "I-I'm sorry Silverweed, I didn't mean to…"

Silverweed looked back at Fiver, "It's okay. Everyone has forgotten about it. I can't blame you for saying that. Even you have forgotten."

The two rabbits smiled and went outside to silflay until it was ni-frith. The whole time Fiver was feeling embarrassed and ashamed that he had forgotten Silverweed's time of 'need'.


	4. Hecktor and Welsh to the Rescue!

**This a Heron and stuff thingy's chapie. This will happen a lot. First one character then a different character in the next chapter. So...ya. Enjoy!**

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A twig snapped. Heron shot her eyes open and looked around for potential danger. She didn't see anything. It was near ni-frith and it was pretty hard to see anything.

"Heron!" came a voice from above. Heron looked up to see Feather. "Hello Heron, Feather find help for you!" he said as he landed beside her.

"Well that didn't take as long as I thought it would." The doe said. "Who did you bring to help?"

"Feather fly high up until me see bunny home. Then me swoop down," Feather flew into the air, swooped down and landed on Heron's back, "and then me almost get run over by Heron's help!" screeched Feather as he fell off her back and landed on the ground in a matter that made him look like he had a heart attack.

"How horrible!" Heron said putting the bluebird to his feet. "Why did they try to hurt you?"

"It was accident. They no meant to." Feather replied.

"Okay. So, where are they?" Heron said looking around.

"Right here!" Feather said happily. "Bunnies come out and help, yes!" he shouted into the forest.

There was rustling in the bushes nearby until two young bucks jumped out and walked over to the injured doe and her little bluebird friend.

"How many times do we have to tell you," said the black one, "call us Hecktor," he pointed to himself, "and Welsh." He finished pointing to the other; saying each word slowly. Heron just rolled her eyes. _These_ were the rabbits that Feather found to help? They didn't seem to be the friendliest rabbits in the world at the first impression. But she did notice the other one waved to her with a small smile on his face.

Suddenly there was a boom of thunder. The rabbits and bird looked up into the sky only to feel rain drops fall onto their faces.

"Bunnies hurry! Rain not fun for bunnies or Feather!" Feather screeched flapping his wings trying to get rid of collected water that had already begun soak into his feathers.

"Okay, Welsh get her right side! I'll get her left!" Hecktor yelled over the thunder.

As they started to walk away Welsh turned his face to her. "Sorry the first impression didn't go well." He said with his ears beside his head. "And we never got your name. What is it?" his ears pricked forward and he smiled again even though crashes of thunder and lightning were being hurled everywhere.

"Uh, my name is Heron." Heron said. '_Okay' _she thought _'maybe these guys aren't that bad after all.'_

More thunder came while the lightning cracked over the sky as the three rabbits and the bird made their way back to the warren.


	5. Dreams, Reality and Morning

Fiver woke by the loud thunder coming from above ground. As soon as he settled down he fell back asleep.

*~*~*~*

Fiver was at the beginning of the woods. Before he could even think of anything he saw a figure from the corner of his eye. He yanked himself around to see a doe. She was a pure white, like she was made of snow, except for her ears which were tipped with black. And her eyes were a stunning, sparkling, sapphire blue.

As Fiver stared at the doe in front of him she backed away from him slowly."W-Wait!" he stuttered. He didn't want her to leave. She was the most beautiful doe he had ever seen. "P-Please don't leave." He called out again, but she continued to back up. Then, she bolted away.

Suddenly the smell of smoke entered Fiver's nostrils. He turned around to see a warren. And it was being burned down by man. He also saw another doe. She was white and was with a buck that was dark brown with tanish-white around his mouth that ran all the way down the front of his body. They both were calling out to the doe that had sprinted away.

Fiver blinked, he was _floating_ above the fleeing doe. He saw her look back, cry, and trip down the hill and into the birch. "What happened." He said to himself. "Is this dream real? If it is, where is she?" he said staring down at the injured doe.

*~*~*~*

"_Fiver?" _It was Hazel. _"Fiver? Fiver…" _he continued to call out his name. Fiver opened his eyes to see Hazel standing over him. "Hey Fiver I came to check up on you. You alright? The storm isn't bothering you is it?"

"N-No. It isn't Hazel." Fiver replied. He moved away from his brother and closed his eyes, still listening.

"Ok then. Sorry to wake you. It's just that I heard you mumbling so I just wanted to make sure you were alright." Hazel said. "And you were moving when I came in. Do you want to talk about it? Was it scary?"

"No, no...thanks thought." Was the only thing Fiver said in return.

As Hazel walked towards the entrance Fiver opened his eyes and called after him.

"Hazel wait!" his older brother turned around and looked him in the eyes.

"Yes?" he said calmly.

"Uh, you…do you ever…never mind, it doesn't matter." The younger one replied. He then flipped onto his other side with his ears behind his head sadly. A tear silently slipped out right before he closed his eyes.

Hazel left and started on his way to his own burrow. He knew something was wrong and what Fiver was going to say. But he knew that his younger brother had to do this on own.

Back in his own burrow Fiver was dreaming. But, it wasn't of the beautiful doe that he wanted.

***************

"Hey, Heron up?!" Feather's voice rang through Heron's head. Why did he have to wake her up? She was tired and just wanted to sleep. Heron reluctantly opened one eye. "Yup, Heron up." He said.

"What in Frith's name do you want Feather?" she groaned opening her other eye.

"Feather want to know if you hungry. Food down run in big burrow. Though Feather not like carrots and green stuff."

Heron lifted her head up. "That sounds great. But, uh, I still can't walk." she gave the bird a little smile.

"Oh, sorry, Feather forgot." He tapped his head with a wing. "Me will get Hecktor and Welsh!" before Heron could say anything about not wanting him to do that because they might be annoyed with helping her, Feather flew away.

Five minutes later Feather came through the entrance with the two bucks trailing behind.

"Hello Heron. You feeling better today?" Welsh asked. He seemed to be very happy, despite the fact he was probably woken up by loud screeches in his ear.

"Yeah, you can tell she's better by the fact she still can't walk!" Hecktor said sarcastically while rolling his eyes. He did not have a good wake-up call apparently. Welsh just flattened his ears and looked embarrassed for asking such a dumb question.

Heron gave a soft smile. "Actually, I'm feeling much better. Thanks for asking Welsh." She watched Welsh perk up, while Hecktor gave him a death glare that he didn't notice.

"Bunny friends should not be mean to each other." Feather said fluttering over onto Heron's back and fluffing out his feathers.

Welsh chuckled and Hecktor crossed his arms smirking before saying, "We're not friends Feather." He said. Feather and Heron just gave them blank stares. "We're brothers." He finished, tilting an ear to the side, as if saying 'you really should of known this'.

"Twins, actually." Welsh added rubbing the back of his head blushing slightly. He then walked over and supported the doe's right side. Hecktor supported the left. "You hungry?" Welsh asked.

"Starved, let's go!" Heron said. The twins walked out of the burrow helping her with Feather still on her back. "Feather get off of me!" she yelled as they went around the corner. Everyone laughed.


	6. Fiver's Morning

**Hey fellow readers! Heads up for ya. Most of the chapters are gonna be short!........................Well.............thats it. Read and enjoy and no FLAME MAIL CRAP STUFF!!!!! I mean really! Don't those people have anything better to do than go around trashing everyone's stories!!! WORDS OF ADVICE FOR THOSE PEOPLE: LIFE. GET ONE.**

**Anyway, on w/ the chapter!**

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Fiver woke up by the sound of laughter and thumping of feet. Everyone in the warren was up and about.

"Oh, you're up." He looked up quickly to see Primrose standing in the burrow entrance.

"Good morning Primrose." Fiver said getting up.

"Hazel told me what happened last night." Primrose turned her head away a little.

"Oh, he did huh?" Fiver stared at the ground.

"Yes, he did… do you want to talk about it?" she asked in an affectionate voice while taking a few steps forward.

"... Sure." Fiver replied.

They both sat in Fiver's burrow while everyone was doing their own things. The whole time Fiver talked Primrose listened intently, with interest, the whole time thinking of an answer that would wash all of Fiver's worries away. After he finished his story Primrose pondered what to say.

Finally she thought of something, saying that he should maybe go out and try to find this mystery doe if she was real. Also that he shouldn't worry about everyone giving him advice. It would be helpful one day and it would soon blow over in no time at all. "Plus I know one or two rabbits who have forgotten already." She finished with a wink.

"Thank you Primrose, I needed to hear that." Fiver said, his voice was relaxed and his ears were in a gentle position.

"No problem Fiver." She said. "You want to go get some flayrah? Bigwig and the others got fresh carrots this morning."

"Sure, let's go." Fiver walked out of his burrow.

The two started on their way towards the honeycomb, talking and laughing as they went. For right now Fiver was content, he was glad Primrose had come to his burrow and the advice she gave him. Now he knew what he had to do.


	7. Danger From The Homba

**Alright ppl lets make this quick. This is the next chapter, please read blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. OK thats it. Comment.**

Six days after Heron arrived at her new home, her leg was healed. She could now run and hop about in the grass without needing anyone to help her.

While Heron was in the warren's care she learned almost every rabbit that lived there. She waved to a white doe named Maybellene, who was one of the medical rabbits who had tended to her leg. Maybellene gave a quick wave before she went off to tend to a buck. Heron immediately realized who it was. It was a member of the owsla named Birch. Apparently he had been in a fight, he had a gash on his back and his ear was bleeding from what appeared to be a bite mark.

"What happened?" Heron asked as she walked up with a concerned look plastered on her face.

Birch winced in pain as Maybellene examined his wounds "It was a young homba. It was trying to hunt one of the new kittens, luckily I was there in time to ward it off, but it'll be back. I _know_ it will." As he told the story Heron sat there listening with great interest, Birch's bravery had just made her respect towards him grow even more than it already had been. Meantime Maybellene was busy rubbing special herbs onto the nasty wounds the homba had given him.

Her ocean blue orbs carefully investigated the gash on the owsla members back. "It's not too deep. That's good." She said. "And Birch." Her voice sounded serious.

"Yes?" Birch replied pricking his ears forward. Heron did the same. It interested her, Maybellene never seemed so serious before.

"Now, I admit that I respect your bravery," Birch closed his eyes, stuck out his chest and smiled proudly, "but it was utterly stupid of you to go and take on a homba!" Maybellene almost yelled. "You're lucky to be alive!" she finished. Birch's proud stance disintegrated instantly. While Heron just stared wide-eyed at the white doe, it shocked her to see Maybellene like this. Usually she was relaxed and gentle, she never seemed to be the type to yell and be stern before. At least until today.

Birch then said that if he hadn't gone and attacked the 'stupid beast', as he put it, that the kitten would not be here right now. Maybellene in response said that it wouldn't have mattered, that if he had died that the homba would just kill the kittens as well as others. "Well I didn't die now did I?!" Birch shouted. He was furious with Maybellene. Why couldn't the doe just get over the attack already?

"No you didn't die." Maybellene said, she too was angry with this brute. "That was just pure luck. You would of died if you didn't attack it in surprise! Trust me, I've treated many homba wounds on many rabbits that have died because of their own stupidity!"

"Well why would you care if I died!?" Birch took a dangerous step forward.

"Because," Maybellene continued, "our warren is small and our owsla is even smaller, since there are more does than bucks. We need everyone to stay alive. The warren isn't what it used to be." She looked down and her ears drooped.

"Well its Cannan's fault." The owsla member said. "If our 'great' chief would allow does to be in the owsla we would be stronger! Because I know many strong does who would gladly be in the owsla." he growled at the thought of their chief. The memory of him denying the request to let does attend in the owsla made him scowl with pure hatred.

"Birch, you know he says we need the does for digging and for litters." Maybellene said softly.

Heron just sat there on the ground, occasionally nibbling on the grass and cleaning herself. She too was sad, but she was also mad at the thought that Cannan thought nothing more of does than slaves only used for digging and bearing litters. _'If I __**ever**__ meet this 'great chief' I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind'_ Heron thought. Her attention was suddenly drawn back to the two rabbits when Birch said:

"Then I'm a fool." His ears too drooped.

"Why would you say that?" Heron asked.

"Yes, why?" Maybellene said. "Enlighten us."

"Because of me, if my instincts are right," Birch stared into the woods and then into the sky, "then they'll be back with more."

Maybellene gasped. "When?"

Birch closed his eyes, then opened them with horror. "Tomorrow."

The rabbits turned tail and ran to tell everyone to be prepared tonight for a bloody battle. Even the chief…


	8. Fiver Starts His Journey

**Hey PPL!!! new Chapter! Huzzah! Sooooo......anyway about the poem....i suck at poetry...sorry.... Anywayyyyy...enjoy!**

**Heron: Please Comment!**

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"What do you mean 'I'm leaving the warren?'" Hawkbit asked Fiver. Fiver sighed. He was just going to tell Hazel the same thing that he told Primrose when Hawkbit blocked his way and kept asking him what he wanted to see Hazel for. In the end Fiver finally told him that he was leaving the warren.

"Hawkbit, please just let me talk to Hazel." Fiver asked desperately trying to get past the older buck.

"Not until you tell me why you're leaving the warren." Hawkbit said sternly, staring Fiver down.

Suddenly Primrose was behind Fiver, she was curious what was happening. "What's going on?" she asked.

Fiver jumped in surprise while Hawkbit, not affected by Primrose sneaking up on them since he could see her, plainly told her that this crazy little buck standing before him was going to leave the safety of Watership Down to go do something most likely stupid, and probably get himself killed. "It might take a day or two," he said, "but he'll get himself killed, and then we'll have to bring back the remains, that is, if any remains are left." he scratched the back of his ear with his paw.

Primrose, unlike Hawkbit, knew what Fiver wanted to leave for. She stepped in between the two and placed a paw on his shoulder. "Good luck Fiver." she winked and left. Yep. She defiantly knew all right.

The two bucks stared blankly at the retreating doe until Hawkbit broke the silence with a sudden burst of questions and rage. He gave chase yelling: "Primrose! Get back here! What do you mean 'Good luck Fiver'! You know don't you! Stop running!"

Hawkbit's voice faded and Fiver sighed in relief. "Thanks Primrose." He said to himself. The young buck then headed down the run to tell Hazel.

**~o~o~o~**

When Fiver reached Hazel's burrow he saw Silverweed talking to him. "Hazel?" he asked when Silverweed had finished.

"What is it Fiver?" his brother said.

"C-Can I speak to you? Alone?" Fiver stuttered, his ears were drooped and his head was hung.

"Sure." Hazel replied. The two walked out of Hazel's burrow and into the honey comb. "What do you want to talk about Fiver?" he asked.

"Well, you know my 'problem' right?"

"Right." They both sat on the floor.

"Well, in my dream, I saw a doe. I didn't tell you about it though. Instead I told Primrose…"

"Go on." Hazel nudged his brother.

"Uh, P-Primrose told me that I should do what my heart t-tells me to do, and…and… oh Hazel please don't be mad!" he gave his brother a hug and started to cry a little.

"I won't be mad. I promise, just tell me." He hugged his little brother back and comforted him.

"Hazel, I have to leave the warren." They both released each other.

After moments of silence Hazel finally answered. "Fine. I give you my permission to leave the warren, but someone has to go with you."

"…This is not the reply I was expecting." Fiver said smiling slightly. "So… who's coming with me?"

**~o~o~o~**

Silverweed had boldly chosen to go with Fiver, and that day, without the others knowing why they were leaving, went down the hill and into the forest.

As the day turned to ni-frith the two bucks had covered a large amount of ground and where looking for a place to spend the night. Sliverweed had found an old looking hole, but further examining showed them that a snake still lived there. They wisely left the hole alone. Later on, Fiver, who had stopped to drink from a pond, noticed a gigantic, old log that was covered with moss. They both agreed that it was a great place for now, and they went in.

Near fu-inle Silverweed and Fiver had settled into the log and were asleep when suddenly Fiver, who had been tossing and turning, shot open his eyes and said in an eerie tone:

"_None, shall escape that day,_

_Except for six who will get away,_

_Into the forest they shall run,_

_Not knowing if the hombas' jaws are gone,_

_But their suffering is not yet done,_

_Though at that time their lives shall be grim,_

_But how will their journey end?"_

When Fiver finished he felt woozy and a sense of nausea swept over him. Silverweed was at his side instantly.

"Fiver what happened?" he said.

Fiver struggled to his feet and said softly, "I'm not sure…but something bad is going to happen…"

They both went out of the log and Silverweed watched Fiver as he stared into the starry night sky with a concerned look on his face.


	9. What to do?

**Wow long time no see! Well, here's the next chapter! Enjoy! R&R! **

"What are we supposed to do!" a young doe yelled. When Heron and the others heard about the homba's returning they had gathered everyone into the main burrow and told them the horrifying news. At this all the rabbits were frightened and uneasy.

"Everyone settle down!" Birch shouted in the middle of the mob. "I know what we need to do!"

"Why should we listen to you!" a buck cried out. "You're the one who brought this misfortune on us! Because of you we are all going to die!"

"Maybe we should feed him to the homba's and see if they will let us live!" another said.

"Sacrifice him!" an older doe said.

"It's his fault! Now he shall pay the price!" yet another rabbit said. Others agreed with the statement. As the warren shouted out ideas Birch backed down quietly and walked over to Heron, Maybellene, Hecktor and Welsh.

"What are we going to do now?" Welsh asked. "Should we just leave?"

"And what! Leave the others to die!" Hecktor snapped at his brother. He was upset that Birch, a member of the _owsla_, had messed up, and he was taking it out on anything that moved.

Welsh recoiled slightly at his brothers outburst. "I-I'm s-sorry Hecktor…" he said softly. He sat there with his ears drooped.

"Now there is no need to get mad at Welsh, Hecktor. He's scared and was just asking a question." Birch said.

"Look who's talking. The others are right, it's all your fault!" Hecktor said angrily with his ears pinned against his head.

Birch didn't say anything, but gave Hecktor a cold, empty stare. "I know." He said at last. "It is my fault, and I need to fix it," his voice was dark, "but in order to do that I'm going to need your help."

Heron stared at Birch and then Hecktor. They were both glaring at each other, each trying to win the mental fight if Hecktor was going to help or not. At last Hecktor closed his eyes. "Alright, I'll help." But before they could say anything a voice boomed over all of the other rabbits.

"Enough!" it said. "I shall settle this." It was Cannan…


	10. The Prison Runs

**TA-DA!!!!! Its finally here!!!! Chapter 10!!! Ok, so i wont talk anymore, lets get rolling!**

Back on Watership Down Hazel was walking around in a circle inside his burrow, and staring at him the whole time was his mate Primrose. She stared at him in silence until she finally spoke up.

"Huh? What did you say?" replied the leader, stopping in his tracks.

"I said that you shouldn't worry about Fiver and Silverweed. They'll be fine. It's not like they're alone. Remember that Frith is looking over them."

"You're right. But I still can't help but worry." Hazel sat down beside her.

"I know what you mean, I'm a little worried to. All we can do though is pray to Frith." Primrose looked down to the ground.

Hazel nuzzled her cheek and sighed. "Let's at least try to get some sleep. Remember we have a big day tomorrow."

"You're right Hazel, let's get some sleep. The two then laid they're heads down and slept.

~o~o~o~

"Cannan-rah! We need to evacuate the warren!" said Birch to their leader.

"And why should we leave?" Cannan stood up on his two back feet.

"Because my instincts tell me that more hombas are coming tomorrow, for revenge!" Birch kept his voice calm but serious, though on the inside he was burning with hate, he didn't like talking to his chief.

"So you want me to evacuate the whole entire warren because you and your little feelings tell you that hombas are coming to kill us all?" the leader had a smirk on his face, and the other rabbits started to laugh.

Birch looked around with shock on his face. A few minutes ago everyone was scared out of their minds. They had even wanted to sacrifice him! He looked at his friends, who weren't laughing to death; Welsh and Hecktor shared a shrug, Maybellene gave him a sad look, but Heron however was furious, she had had enough of this chief. Cannan didn't even consider if Birch's 'little feelings' could be true or not. She boldly stepped in front of the owsla member and yelled out: "Hey Cannan-rah! Could you at least consider the possibility before laughing at him? Or do you really not care about the safety of your warren?"

The laughter in the burrow stopped abruptly and everyone gaped at Heron in utter horror. No one had ever stood up to Cannan before, and there was a good reason for that. "What did you say, little doe." Cannan took a step towards the group.

"I said you should at least consider the idea. If you're wrong then your home is in trouble. Homba's can dig into the burrows (even though they don't do it often) and kill us. Or you, as the case may be." She then turned to the rest of the rabbits of the warren and started to talk to the parents, who were keeping their kittens behind them in case things got ugly. "You there." Heron pointed to a black doe, who holding onto her son protectively. "Would you risk the life of your son?"

"Of course I wouldn't!" she replied bringing her whimpering son closer to her body. "I love him too much to let anything happen to him!"

"So, if there was a threat coming you would go somewhere safe?" Heron gave her a questioning look.

"Yes!"

"What if there was said to be a threat coming, but no one knew if it was real or just made-up?"

"Well, then…I…would…leave." The mother realized what this young doe was getting at. Even though they weren't sure if hombas were coming or not, they should leave just in case. Better to be wise and careful (for a rabbit at least). "I…I understand…" she said looking at Heron. Meanwhile, Cannan was silently giving orders to the other members of the owsla.

"You see!" Heron cried. "We should leave! If we don't and Birch's instincts are right than-"

Suddenly Heron was tackled to the ground by a buck. As she struggled to get free of his iron grip, Birch came running up and jumped onto the owsla member's back and bit into his neck. The buck roared in anger and tried to fling him off, doing this caused the grip to loosen and Heron squirmed free.

Seeing his friend run away, Birch released his victim and also ran with Maybellene, Hecktor and Welsh trailing behind.

Far ahead of them, Heron continued to run, desperately searching for an exit. When she skidded around a corner which stretched into another run, she saw moonlight coming in by certain hole. She smiled and let out a small squeal of happiness.

Right as Heron was about to dive out of the hole and into the open, she was slammed into the ground by Cannan himself. "How dare you!" he screeched at her while she tried to break free from under his paws. "I, with an open and kind heart, allow you to stay with us in **my** warren!" pressure was added onto Heron's chest and neck, she gasped for air. "And after you're all fixed you think that you can just do anything you want!? Well that's not how it works! **I** am the chief here! And what I say goes!"

"*gasp* But if you *gasp* stay here then you'll *gasp* die!" Heron said meekly.

"SHUT UP!" Cannan roared, and shifted almost his entire weight onto the poor doe. Then with fire of anger burning in his eyes he lifted one of his paws up. Both had long and sharp claws from not doing any work to trim them down. "This is the end," his voice was scratchy and dark, "for you!"

Cannan swung, and was inches away from Heron's face, when both Hecktor and Welsh came flying in and jumped on him. "Keep your paws off her!" Hecktor screamed, and he bit into his chief's ear.

"Yeah! What he said!" Welsh copied his brother, except he bit into his foot.

As the two young bucks kept the leader busy, Birch came in with Maybellene and ran over to Heron. "Heron!" he said. "Are you ok?"

"*cough* I will be, once we get out of here."

Before they could do anything else a group of owsla members stormed in, pulled Hecktor and Welsh off of Cannan, grabbed both Heron and Maybellene and pinned Birch down by his back, practically squishing him.

"Cannan-rah, are you alright?" asked the captain.

"Yes, I'm just fine Captain Makoto. Now," he turned to the rabbits that had turned against him, "you all can go," he narrowed his eyes, "if you promise stay here and keep your mouths shut."

There was a brief silence until Heron shouted out: "Never!" the guards gathered closer around her.

"Fine then." He walked towards Birch, who was still pinned down. "Birch, consider yourself as an ex-member." Cannan then kicked dust in his face and shouted out: "Take them to a prisoner burrow.

~o~o~o~

When Heron and the others arrived at the prisoner runs, it was a sad and scary sight. All the way down were tiny burrows which each held one to three rabbits, and every single one had a guard standing in front of the opening.

"Why are there so many rabbits in here?" Welsh asked quietly.

"Almost all of these rabbits were taken in fights for territory. They all live here so our blood won't mix with there's." Captain Makoto said.

"What does that mean?" Hecktor whispered to Maybellene. If Hecktor didn't know then Welsh didn't know; the two stared at the older white doe with pleading eyes.

"I'll tell you when you're older." She replied.

"Ah, here we are." Makoto made the group stop at two holes in the wall. They were both bigger than the rest, but not by much. "You four in here and you in there."

Heron, Maybellen, Hecktor and Welsh were all pushed into the first burrow, while Birch was put in the other. "Why is Birch in that one?" Welsh asked.

"You talk too much!" said a guard. He lunged out at the young buck but was pushed away by Makoto.

"At ease Bristle!" he then turned away from the shocked guard and back to Welsh with a small smile and replied softly: "Cannan-rah wants to have a word with him later. That's why he's in a separate burrow."

Welsh nodded and backed up slowly when Bristle had regained his footing. Then the guards, except for the two who guarded the opening, started to leave. Captain Makoto however, was stopped by a voice saying: "Nice to know you haven't changed Makoto, still caring for the prisoners."

The owsla captain turned around to see that the voice had come from the now-ex-member, who had a grin plastered onto his face. Makoto wanted to be his friend again, but could not, or else he too would be thrown in prison, or killed. He replied flatly: "Old habits die hard." He paused. "And its Captain Makoto, you maggot." He walked away.

Birch on the other hand was still smiling. He could tell that Makoto was faking, no matter how convincing he sounded. _"Yep, still the same old Makoto."_

**DUN DUN DUN!!!! What will happen next?!?!?!? keep reading!!!!!! OH YEAH... AND PLEASE COMMENT!!!!!**


	11. Morning at the Prison Runs

A small whimper-like sound was heard, causing Heron to awaken from sleep. It took awhile for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, considering that the prison runs were all the way at the back at the warren, making it almost pitch-black. Another whimper followed by a shuffling sound made its way to Heron's ears and she turned her head around. The noises had come from the younger twin, Welsh. Apparently in the middle of the night he had moved a few inches away from his brother, and was trying to find his way back to his side.

Heron would have gotten up to help guide the slumbering kit to his brother, like her own mother used to do when she was a baby, but she couldn't move. If she did, Maybellene would have been pushed into the side of the burrow, or worse; she could have been pushed into the guard's path. The brutes were always itching for a challenge. This was discovered an hour after their sentence; the guards just started grabbing prisoners and fought them. Of course none of them survived for long, but what saddened Heron and the others the most was that Birch had been selected most of the time.

Now Birch was a sturdy, strong and clever buck, but he was in match after match and started losing his edge. At first he won some rounds, but after a while his movements slowed and his strength started to leave. He was still smart enough to know when to dodge and strike weak points, but then more than five owsla joined, and it got very _bloody_.

Heron was the first one to scoot to the back of the burrow at the sight. Birch had been overpowered and looked like he was in the state of _dying_. His gash had been reopened along with a bunch of other cuts covering his body and it was possible that his arm had been broken. In fact they were pretty sure it was broken; a lump was seen on his arm, sticking out as plain as day, probably caused by a protruding bone. Fortunately, the darkness hid most of the mess, so none of the others had to see what he really looked like after the battle.

Movement from Maybellene brought Heron out of her thoughts. She was slowly moving her legs, which had been draped over Heron's back, and stretched as far as she could.

"Good morning." Heron said quietly.

"Is it really morning?" Maybellene asked in disbelief then rubbing her eyes.

"I know, my eyes needed to adjust too, but it's morning."

"How can you tell?"

"The guards have already switched shifts."

"You mean to tell me that you can actually see in here?!"

"No, well at least not well. But I can tell them apart by their scents."

The conversation ended at there and silence continued on until Maybellene realized something.

"What is it?" Heron asked.

"I just realized that Feather isn't here." She said the next part in a soft whisper. "Do you suppose they…"

"Of course not!" Heron interrupted. She downcast her eyes. "I told Feather to fly away from here…"

Maybellene was confused, "What? Why did you do that?"

"Because I…" Heron stopped.

"Because you what?"

"Because I told him that we wouldn't be coming back…"

Maybellene's eyes widened in shock, but fear could be seen clearly. She was about to ask something else when a yawn interrupted her.

The yawn had come from Hecktor who was just beginning to wake up along with his brother, who had managed to find his way back to his side.

Heron felt relief that the medical doe's and her conversation was over.

"Good morning." Hecktor yawned.

"Good morning to you as well." Maybellene said.

One by one the gang all started to wake up more and they became hungry. Soon a guard came down the center of the prison runs and yelled out, "BREAKFAST TIME YOU VERMIN!" Suddenly the whole run was filled with shouts, grunts and curses from other rabbits who had been asleep.

"They should really get a better wake-up call!" Welsh pouted, rubbing his ears.

"Who cares about that right now, I'm starving." Hecktor replied.

The guards standing at the entrances to the burrows moved aside and the prisoners started to walk out. Heron, Maybellene, Hecktor, and Welsh on the other hand moved closer to the back of their burrow (Hecktor was forced back even though he said it was time for them to eat).

"_Is it really time for us to eat?" _Heron wondered._ "And why aren't we being feed in our burrows? Not that I'm complaining about having my own personal space again but…" _Her thoughts were interrupted when the guard standing at their entrance looked in angrily and said brusquely, "Are you lot deaf?! You heard the time-keepa! It's breakfast time! Hurry up and go before I decide to pounds on ya!" They wisely and quickly followed behind.

~o~o~o~

When the prisoners had stopped moving, they ended up in the center of the warren, the exact same place where Heron and the others had eaten, before they were considered prisoners.

"I didn't know that the prison run ate where we did." Maybellene said.

An older buck standing nearby turned towards them and said, "We don't eat here. We eat in our burrows, usually. It's another one of those 'special days'." His voice sounded almost excited.

"'Special days'? What are 'special days'?" asked Welsh.

"I…I don't know…" Maybellene answered.

"Well, not that this is **not** interesting or anything," Hecktor started backing up towards the pile of flayrah, "but I'm getting hungry. So let's dig in!" Hecktor turned and ran over to where the crowd was gathered and started crawling over rabbits until he was standing on the highest part of the pile.

"As much as I hate to admit it…Hecktor is right. There is no need to worry about this now. We need to keep up our strength." Maybellene sighed.

"Right." Both Heron and Welsh replied. The three went over to the crowd as well and ate as others shouted at the now-dubbed 'Little Glutton'.

Meanwhile a group of rabbits were watching everyone from an entrance.


	12. Trade Day

**What goes on peoples?! Before u read on I want to apologize that this is taking so long. My computer was having some tech. difficulties but my mom and I have fixed it! YAY!!! So read on and R&R if you want! tell me what u like, hate, opinions, or just random comments!!! :3 OKIES BYE!~**

**(wait! one more thing! for those who ask about the name spelling, yes i know that they are differently spelled. I just kinda liked them this way...*shrugs*)**

* * *

After the prisoners had eaten, Heron pulled Maybellene aside to talk. "I didn't see Birch this whole time. Is he okay?"

Maybellene's face seemed to darken and she talked so quietly that Heron had to practically strain her hearing. "Captain Makoto said that Cannan wanted to talk to him … and since he wasn't taken last night he is probably with Cannan as we speak."

"A-Are you sure they're just _talking _and not anything else?" Heron questioned, but Maybellene did not answer.

Both of the does remained silent until Heron leapt forward towards the Prison Runs' entrance.

"Where on Earth are you going!?" Maybellene shouted.

"I'm going to find Birch!" Heron replied, not stopping her fast pace.

Suddenly a voice boomed over all the rest, saying: "Alright men, line up! It's Take-Back-Trade Day!". Everyone, including Heron who had stopped abruptly in her tracks, stared up at the main entrance to see Cannan and a group of bucks standing beside him.

"What is _he_ doing here?" Hecktor mumbled as he and Welsh came over to the girls.

"I don't know, and I **definitely** **do **_**not **_like it." Heron answered. '_Did he even do anything to Birch? Or did he just kill him? O Frith, please don't let him be dead! Please, oh please!'_

Their attention was brought back to Cannan and the other males when they moved slightly closer to prisoners.

"Ok, now let's start." Cannan said loudly so the prisoners could hear. "First up is Perth, chief of the Thorn Bush Warren." A buck on his right took a step away from the others. "All those who inhabit step forward!"

Immediately, several rabbits stepped forward from the group. Some had on joyful faces while others still wore hard looking ones; it was as if they thought that they would not be freed unless they showed that being in this warren's Prison Run had not changed them, possibly for the worse. They knew that their leader knew that the Prison Runs here could break the spirit of even the strongest and wildest rabbits.

"Are these your comrades?" Cannan asked Perth. He glanced at Heron and the others for just a quick second. Heron could have sworn that his stone cold eyes were kindling evil within them.

Perth agreed and the bucks made their way towards their own leader. As they went up, he seemed to be talking to someone else who was covered by the glare of the sun coming through the warren's entrance. When the rabbits of Thorn Bush Warren exited, several does came bounding inside, they were as numerous as the bucks that had just left.

"What is this?" Heron asked Maybellene.

"I-I have absolutely no idea! I have never seen this!" the medical doe exclaimed as the females walked past them and into the entrance of the Owsla Runs.

About two hours had gone by until the whole thing had absolutely finished. By the time it had ended more than one hundred prisoners had left, and more than one hundred does had entered, most of whom were around the ages of twelve to fifteen weeks old. At certain times when the leaders did not recover one of their troops, it was due to either the fact that they no longer wished to have them, or that they had run out of does to trade. Then afterwards the bucks that had been rejected would be led to the same place where all the females were heading.

When it finally ended there were still plenty of prisoners left. All of the chiefs had gone with their bucks, and everyone was talking, grieving, or going back to their burrows, which were roomier now because some of their burrow mates had left.

Heron and the others were still staring at the entrance to the warren. The guards were there at their posts but Cannan was not. One of them gave a glare, as if saying to not even think of escaping, however running away and gaining freedom was the farthest thing from their minds. They had to do several things now. One, find Birch and save him if need be. Two, they had known what all the doe trading was about, and maybe help them too. And three, all of them had to save the warren from the jaws of the hombas.

~o~o~o~

Birch lifted his head shakily and stared at their warren's leader as he entered his burrow, which Birch was now lying weakly in at the moment. A sense of nausea overcame him from a wretched smell as he stared into his leader's hate-filled eyes.

Cannan had ordered a guard to bring Birch to his burrow, which was done with little difficulty since he was still recovering from his fight from before. As the two walked the former owsla had only tried to escape twice, both ended up to be futile. The guard would simply kick or bite at his fractured arm, causing Birch to stop and yelp in pain, and then he would be tackled to the ground.

Upon arriving at Cannan's burrow both were covered in blood. The guard had not injured Birch, so to speak; his tackles had re-re-opened Birches cuts, splattering them both with red fluid. Cannan did not seem to mind though; instead he smirked and easily pushed Birch into the back of the burrow. He then dismissed the guard with his back towards the ex- member.

During that time Birch had managed to lift himself from the ground and steady himself. It was then he had then planned to kill Cannan with one swift bite to the neck while he wasn't looking. As soon as his hastily-made plan went into action however, he was flipped onto his back and then thrown against the wall.

_ Thud! _The impact could clearly be heard from all around including the Prison Runs, where his friends slept. Unfortunately it was not heard because just at the moment the Time Keeper had come in to wake everyone up; the rest of the rabbits in the warren paid no mind to the thud, they were used to these types of noises. To them either someone disobeyed or a prisoner had tried to do something that had failed miserably.

Birch tried to get up again, but in an instant Cannan was on him, biting and clawing and doing everything in his power to try to kill him. In the end of it all Birch was just a pile of bleeding fur and bones. His head had received a mild cut, both ears were torn a bit, his broken leg looked much worse along with the rest, and his gash on his back had been made even deeper. If he looked like he was in the state of dying the last fight, he looked like a corpse now. The worse part of it though was the _smell_. It was salty and thick and reminded anyone who was near of scent of death, like the black rabbit of Inle had come. Some had to back away and some even retched. To Cannan though, the smell was sweet. Oh, how he loved and missed the sweet smell of blood and digging his claws into the flesh of another being. He smiled to himself and walked over towards Birch's limp body. He appeared to be dead, but he had to make sure.

As he was about to claw at the middle of Birch's chest, where his delicate heart laid, a guard that had bravely volunteered went into the foul-smelling burrow and informed that other leaders from different warrens had come already to trade. Cannan looked at him in anger, but his countenance immediately changed. He then thanked the guard and took one last look at Birch. _'He'll probably be dead by the time I get back, if he isn't already.'_ he thought.

Minutes had passed by when Birch finally awoke. His first instinct was to get out of the burrow and find his friends. As he moved though, a sharp wave of pain coursed throughout his body. He looked down at himself and let out an ear-splitting cry, both in agony and in shock; he only had a few seconds to think before he passed out from the pain.

~o~o~o~

"So, my dear friend Birch," his voice was dripping with sarcasm on 'dear friend', "you've managed to survive…still!" he slowly advanced forward towards the beaten buck, with a growl-like sound emitting from his throat. The next sentence came out filled with anger and bloodlust, which suddenly showed in his eyes. "I guess I'll just have to make sure you die this time!" Cannan then threw himself upon Birch once more.


End file.
